Back Country Safety: Ideas for solo travel

The debate about the wisdom and safety of solo back country travel popped up in a Trip Report recently and I think it is a subject that merits discussion (albeit, hijacking a trip report seems inappropriate) so I am starting this thread to have a hopefully civil discussion about solo travel and get people`s thoughts and advice on it.

Some of us are shift workers who never get weekends off (cops, firefighters etc) We have a terrible time ever being able to coordinate with other people with messed up schedules like us to tour in the back country and are often left with two choices: stay home (or ride resorts) or go solo.

I choose to tour solo and try to mitigate the additional risks with equipment such as a personal locator beacon and hand held ham radio. As was said in another thread, our brain is best weapon and I use it as best I can to try to make decisions based on risk assessment for solo travel.

My terrain choice is altered by solo status as well as my go no go decisions to ride avalanche terrain (in other words, I need a much lower danger to even think of dropping it). In addition, I will try to pick destinations where I have the highest chances of meeting other people randomly out there to team up with for "safety in numbers"

I would like to hear some POSITIVE advice and thoughts about solo travel from the more experienced members so that those of us who do choose to travel in the back country solo can do so armed with the best tools and knowledge possible.

Watch them thar tree wells. I've seen people get mired to the point of needing help getting out w/o having felt that they were skirting too close to the wells. Usually after recent dumps, so the "gravity well" went further from the tree than expected. When I go solo I take rules like "ski only what you can see" and "give tree wells a wide berth" even more seriously than when I'm skiing with others. I also ski well within my skill level.

I suppose that I'm with you on having a different threshhold on avie hazard level when solo. But if I'm not willing to do it solo, I'm not sure doing it with my pals watching from a safe viewing spot is a whole lot better.

It's the the other risks beyond avalanches that concern me most when skiing solo. Even seemingly little things can ruin your day.

It's sort of a-duh obvious, but you clearly want to try to avoid circumstances where you'd need help from someone else to get out - whether it be a partial burial (don't underestimated how quickly the snow can set to concrete, even in a tree well fall), gear failure, or injury.

this thread is a good idea, i wish i had something to add. im solo often but i do not think it has much effect on my sno choices.... old and slow...

When I am touring solo, I always try to leave information with my wife.  Sometimes it is just TH location and planned return time.  Other times it can be detailed route info and possible variations. 
It usually depends on the tour.

I tend to pack a bit differently when I am solo.  I am less likely to carry a probe or beacon and more likely to carry a phone, stove, extra (extra) food, layers, etc.

My wife prefers that I don't tour solo and I enjoy some great companions so I don't do it often but having the mountains to yourself can be a treat for sure.

Also, don't get buried or seriously hurt.  Save that for when you are with your buddies.  It's good practice for them.   

Jim.....good point about the trees! It would be very difficult to get out of a hole without help tangled up in branches.... Hadn't really thought about that as much as I should.....good point.

Any thoughts about self rescue techniques? While not in the actual BC and not a True tree well, I was riding Jacks Woods at Meadows and fell into a "hole" created by a layer of snow acting as a "bridge" over a group of 4 to 5 foot tall evergreen saplings. It was a major PITA to get out!!

I always carry a knife in my pack and rope. The knife can be used to cut branches and the rope maybe to help pull you out if you can throw over a limb? Going in head first has always been my biggest fear of tree wells!

I ski alone a lot, just as I often hike alone, mountain bike alone, flatwater kayak alone, and travel throughout the Developing World alone. In all these activities there are people who consider this frightfully dangerous, inconsiderate or borderline suicidal. On the other hand, I like it....and I get to do a lot of stuff which I'd never get to do if I waited until I could find someone to go with me.

There are undoubted dangers involved. I'm more concerned about tree wells than avalanches, because I generally play it extra safe when solo in avalanche terrain; tree wells are all over the place, and it's difficult to avoid getting close to them. I've come close enough to getting stuck in a few that I treat them with caution and respect....but I'm not going to stop skiing (alone or accompanied) where there are trees. Same goes for glide cracks in springtime, glacial crevasses, moats around rocks, and whatever else you might name.

People like to put things in absolute terms: "No one should ever go out alone." There's something nice and neat and defined about such statements. "No one should ever use a plastic shovel/analog beacon/probe poles." "My personal choice of inebriant/driving habits/obscene, blasphemous or scatalogical vocabulary is the only appropriate one, and everyone else deserves jailtime." Etc. I find this sort of absolute, black-and-white thinking tempting, too. But in the end, I still like to ski along a lot of the time, and it's still too much trouble to look for other folks who like to wake up late (as I do), then go the kinds of places I prefer.

Even worse, although I hesitate to say it, I like to make up my route as I go. This means that as often as not I don't know where I'll be or when I'll get back; for this reason I often don't even try to tell anyone. And I sure don't carry SPOT, satellite phone, or other communication devices (although I often do have a cell phone, for whatever that's worth). Maybe I'd do this part differently if I had kids, a wife, or a high-powered stockbroker to keep apprised of my plans.

When faced with people who seem to need to tell me what I should or should not do with respect to ski touring, I try to maintain my composure, ask if there's anything they do of which others disapprove strongly, and if the answer is no (as it surprisingly often is, although how this could be true I can't imagine) I thank them for their concern and tell them I see things differently. Why should I take on their burdens when I've got an entirely sufficient supply of my own?

Interesting idea for a thread. I've been reluctant to participate in that other thread, which seemed a bit too emotionally laden for my taste. I meet a LOT of solo skiers in the backcountry, and I'd be interested in hearing from more of them.

Mark